CONTRIBUTING WRITER – VALERIA CANTU
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON OCT 25 2023
Books offer readers the possibility to travel to a million places at once, allow readers to feel represented, and invite readers to identify themselves within the pages. The covers and chapters allow readers to access a world of infinite possibilities. However, over time, society attempts to prohibit the public from accessing certain texts, resulting in isolated readers. The government continues to prevent schools from teaching about certain types of novels.
“Challenging” is a term to describe texts that are in the process of being removed in social and academic settings. The act of challenging books is ongoing. Over time, more books have been frequently under the radar. According to The Library Association, the number of challenged books significantly increased last year. There was a “record-breaking number of attempts to ban books in 2022 – up 38 percent from the previous year” (Blakemore 2023). Although these bans are done to protect the wellbeing of developing generations, this censorship discourages students from learning about subjects that are critical. These motives are bred from good intentions but they prevent students from feeling represented, seen and conscious as members of society.
“The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison is a challenging book that is in the process of being banned in America. According to ABC NEWS, “the novel is being challenged for including ‘explicit content.’ This novel has been influential for being “a coming-of-age book [that] explores themes of racism, class, gender, sexual violence, and how these themes intersect” (Alfonseca 2023). Senior English major, Kassandra Cantú expressed her first-hand reaction to the book stating, “When I first read the book, I was taken aback because of the realities this book shares with readers, but at the end, when you look at the book as a whole it pacts more of a punch when you talk about these realities without a filter. It’s raw and real instead of sugarcoating it to please every audience.” “The Bluest Eye” provides readers with the reality of topics that are not often discussed in society. Readers who feel alone in these conversations can turn to these novels and feel represented.
After discussing this with Cantú, she responded with her point of view: “Although novels like ‘The Bluest Eye’ have themes that may be triggering for some people, and I would understand why people would be hesitant about exposing people to it, we shouldn’t shelter people from these things because ignoring a problem is only going to make it worse.” “And Tango Makes Three” by Justin Richardson is a notable children’s picture book that was recently banned. Despite the novel’s overarching theme of familial love, the book was challenged in states like Florida for its representation of same-sex parenting. According to an article from NBC, in Florida “the school board…barred students who are in kindergarten through third grade from accessing [this book] about two male penguins at New York City’s Central Park Zoo who adopted and raised an orphaned penguin chick named Tango. The district decided to implement rules banning their educational systems from speaking about ‘sexual orientation or gender identity” (Yurcaba 2023).
Senior english major, Marisabel Jimenez, who participated in the annual research week in 2022, focused her research on the effects of book banning. Through her research, she realized that many of the targeted books came from minority authors or groups. Jimenez stated: “It’s really important to have books surrounding minority groups and different cultures in the classroom so these children are able to grow up knowing that they have representation and that they are not alone in their experiences.